What does Vienna taste like?

[grathan]

Trying to pinpoint a flavor in certain beers. I haven't used vienna all that much, maybe 2x. The lastest batch has 4# and there is a VERY distinct flavor that I would compare to perhaps carrot juice? Does that sound like vienna?

 

[brew_ny]

I use Vienna a lot to replace part of the two row in a recipe

I have made three or four different SMaSH recipes with it

I think of it as a warm toasty taste not carrot juice

all the best

S_M

 

[grathan]

Warm toasty, perhaps a bit coppery also?

 

[brew_ny]

Warm toasty, perhaps a bit coppery also?

a bit copper? as sweet?

Vienna

Vienna and Munich malts are kilned at higher temperatures than the other base malts. This gives them a good deal more flavor than the others, and they are most commonly used in small percentages of a beer's grain bill to add complexity. In some beer styles, though, they can form the entirety of the grist.

The lighter-kilned of the two, Vienna, makes up most of the malt used in the appropriately-named but dying Vienna lager style. Negra Modelo is the most widely available commercial example, but the malt character is tainted by the inclusion of a corn adjunct. Instead, look for Vienna's rich biscuity, toasted flavor in the more common Marzen/Oktoberfest beers.

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2012/11/what-does-pilsner-malt-taste-like-munich-vienna-2-row.html

I do not think it tastes sweet to me

but as they say taste is all in your mouth

all the best

S_M

 

[riderkb]

Trying to pinpoint a flavor in certain beers. I haven't used vienna all that much, maybe 2x. The lastest batch has 4# and there is a VERY distinct flavor that I would compare to perhaps carrot juice? Does that sound like vienna?

I love carrot juice and Vienna malt. I'm quite certain they do not taste similar. Sometimes a beer will have a "vegetable" off flavor. I assume it is from an infection.

 

[grathan]

Thanks for clarifying my perception. Can you describe the taste you get from Vienna?

 

[beersk]

Thanks for clarifying my perception. Can you describe the taste you get from Vienna?

I get a toasty quality.

 

[BreezyBrew]

I get a toasty quality.

Toasty and crackery. Yum. Vegetable flavor sounds like DMS or oxidation.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Why don't you just post a sample of your beer for us to taste?

 

[grathan]

It's not an off flavor. It's an ingredient flavor. I've seen it in Octoberfest beers before. Reading my notes from last year I thought the Vienna was suspect in Bee Cave Brewery Oktoberfest, and then again this year in the BCS recipe, each having at least 4# of vienna malt. "carroty" may not be the best description, but "toasty" doesn't seem to cover it %100 either.

Both recipes also had 2# of dark munich which is more than I have ever used of that malt before.

Both also used Tettnanger hops which I am also not familiar with.

Do any of these other ingredients hint "carrot" or "coppery"?

 

[EROK]

Coppery taste could be a water quality issue. Any iron or sulphur in your brewing water?

 

[grathan]

no sulphur, the iron is about 0.01 before Ro filtering.

 

[Beernik]

I'm guessing that coppery is either brewing water or your BK. It's usually metals in the brew water or metals your wort comes into contact with.

I have no idea what carrots would be. Could it be a hop flavor? I sometimes get garlic off of amarillo.

Vienna is crackery to toasty. Munich is more toasty to nutty depending upon the darkness and quantity.

 

[grathan]

"crackery" could that be dry and scratchy?


I will probably just have to do a vienna smash with a hop I am familiar with.

 

[BreezyBrew]

I think it comes across similar to wheat. If you have ever had Bells Two Hearted, it's in there. It gives a smooth wheat flavor to me.

 

[swingerwc]

I know this thread is old, but I just finished my first Vienna Lager and tapped it this evening. Most everything I will say about it is wow wow wow. I include the recipe below. I did a triple decoction mash which took entirely too much time, and admittedly I have no other lager under my belt to compare it too especially another Vienna lager from a different ash profile. Anyways as you can see from the grain bill, it is all SMaSH and it is so flavorful and delicious. I miscalculated the grain bill needed because I had never done a decoction before and with a triple decoction the efficiency was through the roof.

To answer the thread for all those who tread here late. Vienna malt has a very TOASTY malty aroma and it tastes like it smells. Toasty as in toasted bread in the oven not the toaster. The difference for me is that toasted bread in the oven still has a moistness to it that toast out of the toaster does not. Maybe because I have a gas oven and water is a byproduct of natural gas combustion, so my oven isn't totally dry heat, it leaves the toasted bread with some humidity in it that, to me, carries the quality of what Vienna malt tastes like compared to other malts. Anyways for SMaSH brewing this malt is with out a doubt flavorful, crisp, dry, and yet had some residual sweetness that you would find in a oven baked slice of toast.

11 lbs Vienna Malt (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 100.0 %
1.75 oz Hallertauer [3.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 18.5 IBUs
0.50 oz Hallertauer [3.20 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 4 2.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg German Lager X (White Labs #WLP835) Yeast 5 -

 

[ExperimentalMental]

Yea, I love that Vienna malt, I too have a smash with Vienna in it.

 

[Bishop]

Just brewed up a batch of Vienna and Amarillo. Smelled amazing... Also planning on doing a Vienna and Simcoe.

 

[ChelisHubby]

I brew a blonde that is 45% veinna and it has a toasty complex taste that my tongue can't well describe. if you taste carrots I would look at my yeast and handling of it and the same with the hops.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Just drank a Vienna SMaSH last night, it has a sweet flavor I can't pinpoint. I wouldn't say carrot, but like others say, I don't think biscuity or toasty fits the bill either.

 

[Brewenstein]

Just drank a Vienna SMaSH last night, it has a sweet flavor I can't pinpoint. I wouldn't say carrot, but like others say, I don't think biscuity or toasty fits the bill either.

I brewed a Vienna SMaSH with Hallertau hops as my moctoberfest ale early in the summer. Kegged it and let it sit carbed up for a couple months until late July and started drinking it. I too would describe it as sweet-ish. Perhaps its the ale yeast (US-05) making it a little fruity and giving the perception of sweetness. (Fermentation temps were right between 66-68 degrees so I don't think temp was an issue with the flavor.) Regardless, it is a simple, enjoyable ale.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Yeah, I drank two more of mine last night. I like Vienna as a base malt. I didn't have any issues with hitting numbers or high FG either.

 

[oefox]

I use vienna a lot as the primary base malt and essentially use it instead of maris otter when making a bitter as it give a much more pleasant malt complexity and colour, however, the caveat here is the maltster you're getting your Vienna from.

I'm in NZ and the gladfield malts I get are highly modified so very easy to use, no need to decotion or multi-step mashing, and the Vienna I use from them isn't as strong on the bread aroma as the weyermann vienna but it does have a slight orange hue that I find appealing.

My recommendation with malts is to taste them if you can, go into your LHBS and smell and chew the different grains you're using or thinking of using, I personally found the Vienna superior to the maris otter in armoa and taste doing this - the vienna smelt like fresh bread compared to a chicken coop.

 

[BrewmasterBrad]

I love Vienna malt as well. For a while, I was formulating recipes and adding Vienna to them for no other reason than I liked it. I have used it in large proportions, but I haven't tried a SMASH with it yet. Sounds like a fun experiment.

For me, Vienna has a very toasty flavor - like bread crust, but not as strong as Munich. I like using it in Pale Ales and Blondes to add some malt complexity without add much color.

 

[Doed]

I like Vienna too. So much so that I have a 50lb container of the stuff. I use it for SMaSH beers. I really like my Vienna/Mosaic with an ounce of leaf Mosaic dry hopping in the keg. Currently drinking a Vienna/Northern Brewer, which is okay. I use US-05 and did use Nottingham on one of the Vienna/Mosaic beers. The Notty had a slightly different taste so I prefer the US-05.

What's Vienna taste like? Let me pour one this evening and I'll get back to you.

 

[Colorado68]

Vienna
tastes sweet, clean and smells wonerful. Make sure she shaves frequently or we could be talking about an infection like brytomycic. Propogate multiple starters, get the neighborhood to attend. Should ferment out quickly

 

[jwalk4]

I think vienna tastes really bready.